OH, AND I ALSO WANTED TO SAY
I actively started to take commissions, so if you are interested please write to me!!! I need money almost always and I will be happy to draw something for you
( these are some examples of work )
I have information about commissions here -
https://shadovvcomms.carrd.co/
but you can always clarify something by writing to me.
When you call to me asleep
Up the ragged cliffs I scramble
A single thread hangs limply down
And I breathe, "Not now, not now"
The moment when Twig died.
Yes, after her death, she immediately met Gunnar… already in his new role, to stay with him.
~~~
also want to say thank you to everyone for the reblogs and kind words about my work..... *sniff* I sometimes disappear from here, but when I come back and see this, it makes me incredibly happy and joyful..... It immediately makes me want to do something else (especially with Gunnar and Twig, hehehehe)
things that (in my perfect world) SSE would bring back
cold resistant horses
reputation locked horses
buying horses with shillings
level locked horses
level locked items
day blockers
location locked items !!! incentivize people to explore and go to the mall. turn the global store into more of like. a catalogue
dark night sky fuck the light pollution we have going on these days
actually evil/threatening villains
an actual difficult/potentially grindy/immersive element to training horses
having to spam w / be mindful of your horse's gait (i understand they removed this for accessibility purposes - maybe they could let you toggle it on/off)
raptor playing at the mall every thursday
COLD RESISTANT HORSES
regional trailers
the yellow-tinted colour scheme (as opposed to the blue-tint we have now)
not necessarily the old UI but i have to be honest i really do not like the current UI it is so. it is
having to care for your horse multiple times per session
having to wait for the bus !!!
personality for the character designs please... everything looks like fortnite now
having to care for your horses at a stable, not just anywhere on the map
I agree with most of these things. I think they added some kind of role-playing to the game?... You weren't just running around on a dummy character, you were traveling around the island with its transportation system!
Careful, now you'll hear the sounds of an old sso player.
Before, to get to the Golden Hills, you couldn't just teleport there. You had to think about it. Which would be faster — running to Jasper's farm or taking the ferry? How do you get to the ferry? And you have to wait for it. By the way, ferries have lost their meaning now, which is sad!!!
You thought twice about whether it was worth venturing into Dinosaur Valley if you didn't have the right horse. And in general, it made sense and gave northern horses a special feature.
When you approached the bus stop and saw the bus leaving, you tried your best to catch up with it! It evoked certain emotions. Just like in real life, haha.
What I definitely wouldn't want back is spamming the button while riding a horse. Personally, it annoys me, but I still have the habit of spamming that button, as if I still think the horse can slow down at any moment. It's funny.
It's actually sad that they're removing the little complications that add liveliness to the game. I understand that this is optimization and all in the name of convenience. But sometimes it looks like they are trying to smooth out absolutely all the corners...
so, i played the continuation of galloper's questline involving linda. as someone whose favorite sso character is galloper, i was very anxious about how these quests would turn out, and even though i overall liked the experience i still have some thoughts and nitpicks. as such i'll be analyzing the questline in detail (obvious spoilers under the cut)
sorry for any quality issues btw, i recorded the quests on obs and the screencaps are from the playback
these quests were said to have galloper "finding peace" and i was worried before they even dropped the update. i was mainly worried about how they would handle his relationship with jon jarl and who they would (or would not) vilify.
this is something they really hammer in (lol) by the start and considering the theme of finding peace i'm not fond of it even though i didn't think much of it while playing. the biggest theme of galloper as a character is that he did terrible things and terrible things were done to him, his need for revenge being because of the latter. this makes it seem like he's unreasonable specifically for being tormented by the terrible things that were done TO HIM, as in getting cursed, used and murdered right after morrigan was also murdered. not to mention who most of these things are the fault of...
see, that's what i was talking about. gunnar is someone who did terrible things and who terrible things were done to. i don't mind this bit of dialogue, because it acknowledges that he is not completely innocent and neither is magnus, and jon jarl is absolutely not. i feel like this hinges between vilification and sympathy (describing gunnar as 'soulless' fits the rumors of him) but magnus does say he had a hand in hurting gunnar, which he regrets. i like these bits of dialogue overall, unlike linda who is fully sympathetic towards gunnar, magnus both condems gunnar's actions and the fact he himself had a hand in them. still a little flawed because of the amount of blame placed on gunnar instead of jon jarl, but thankfully it only gets worse! yay!
this differs from earlier characterizations of jon jarl as a "protector" of jorvik (one who fripp himself is fond of) which i'm glad for. he is very unsympathetic here, greedy and uncaring of others or the culture of the island
i guess they point out the fact that all horses except morrigan avoided gunnar to emphasize his bond with her..? idk. but i feel it's also to point out how absolutely no one really liked gunnar, even if he hoped it would be different with his jarl
hands down my favorite lines from this quest. gunnar sounds bitter and pitiful here and you can really see how jon jarl hurt him. he did all he could, wanting honest approval, and was discarded easily
yay witch time!! this line is very interesting because they're essentially saying that even before his death, gunnar was pretty jaded. the loneliness is definitely because he had absolutely no one by his side, neither before nor after his death, except for morrigan. the anger, i'm not sure... angry at how people treat him as devoid of aideen's light? angry at the jarl's coldness? or interpreting his destruction of runestones as anger? i don't think that last one is right, he was following orders, no?
right!! notice how with jon jarl's search for immortality he no longer viewed gunnar as anything special. "a mere soldier", only special because he did not die. gunnar was no longer anyone special to jon jarl for any reason other than being the driving force of his envy
interesting range in dialogue options
clearly, he was literally about to be executed
okay so i was right in my theory that while galloper kept one piece of his soul, the second one went to morrigan, but nature..? the third piece is just out and about?
this part is a lil ironic to me considering that, as galloper is now without a head and all, he quite LITERALLY cannot speak for himself. sure he can "speak" through morrigan, but it's still indirect
i get what they're trying to get at here (even despite how galloper was wronged and how aideen essentially rejected him, he is still able to roam jorvik and morrigan will always be there for him) but i don't see how this correlates. how would realizing all this means he HAS to let go of all his bitter feelings? and why would this "peace" come to him so fast? i don't get it. he should be able to live with his feelings and also remember he will always have his companion. how he was treated by jon jarl for example is not the same as how he was treated by morrigan. they're trying to say he is no longer "consumed" by rage, but he should be allowed to feel some. like guys...? he was wrongfully accused of treason and executed?
same point as above. i don't know if this is meant to signal total forgiveness, or leaving the past in the past. but regardless of what they mean (i mean. we know) it really shouldn't be forgiveness, especially not for jon jarl, he doesn't deserve any. as for broderick it can be acknowledged he wasn't wrong in protecting the runestones galloper destroyed but also that he did cause part of galloper's anguish in question, which galloper has no real reason to want to forgive
kinda better dialogue options this time. but i don't like the wording of galloper being "saved" because of his bond with morrigan. it doesn't absolve what caused his pain in the first place
again it's NOT the sameeee 😭😭😭😭😭 i don't know why he would want to forgive jon jarl. and again, he literally cannot speak for himself anymore. because he doesn't have a head. remind me whose fault that is btw
this i like however. not only does it confirm that they're not retiring him thank goodness but i kinda like it more as an interpretation of his inner feelings. i wish he was allowed to not move on in every regard instead of total forgiveness. i think the idea of galloper finding peace in his bond with morrigan is good, but i'm not fond of finding peace in... forgiving the man who murdered him
IN CONCLUSION!!!
what i like:
how magnus recounts the events of gunnar's life and how he knows he was seriously hurt (and how magnus himself had a hand in it) but also that he caused pain himself. magnus is overall pretty sympathetic towards gunnar but critical also... i find myself agreeing with him the most, even if i don't think galloper would realistically want to forgive him either
the emphasis on gunnar and morrigan's bond, even if it falls flat at the end
jon jarl's one line. pleaseeee show off his blatant greed and disregard for others more pleaseeee he's a selfish horrible man
the fact that gunnar was allowed to be bitter, even if it.. yknow.. also fell flat at the end
the "everything i ever did was all for you" line. like yeah... and then he was killed like it was nothing. makes me so so sad man
the animations during the pact scene were really nice btw
what i didn't like:
the fact that galloper's anger is built up as a fault that he overcomes at the end through a total 180° where he acquires peace. the biggest theme of the questline and i'm only just realizing i really didn't like it 😭 i'm not opposed to him finding peace altogether, but come on. he is a character with multitudes. i know this is a kids' game, but it would've been better if he was allowed to be at peace and still get angry at some people from time to time
jon jarl's forgiveness. what did he do to deserve it..? mind you during all this he's chilling in his tomb unaware he caused most of galloper's pain
how galloper and morrigan's bond feels kinda... dumbed down? like, it's pictured as it saving galloper altogether. she was his only true companion, i feel like instead of their bond making him attain complete peace, it should've been his proof that there is some good in the world after all. like, his proof that the world is harsh but not everyone is out to hurt him, even if someone hurt him and he resents that person in return there is always someone who will be by his side
"it's galloper's choice to make" he quite literally cannot speak for himself anymore. remind me whose fault that is!!!!
the juxtaposition between jon jarl now seeing gunnar as a means to an end to be disposed of if he does not meet his demands, and how gunnar is seemingly "wrong" for not forgiving him sooner. this does not make sense!!!! i do not mind admitting he wasn't 100% innocent, but he has no reason to forgive jon jarl!!!!!!!! what the fuck is this message!!!!!!!!!!!!
it felt a lil rushed overall. bro went from vengeful to finding total peace in 30 mins? i'm hoping they still have something for the last week cause yeah idk man
OVERALL: i had to edit this part because the more i thought about these quests the worse they got. i definitely liked some bits and pieces, i was definitely glad to see something new, but it was not... good. what little i liked had potential, but the way everything culminated screwed it all up. the message of it all disgusts me real bad, idk why they would decide this total blind forgiveness bs is the way to go. everyone is already saying this but the message of "if you don't forgive your abuser you're a bad person" sucks. idk how they're gonna go back from this but it's NOT a satisfying conclusion to galloper's story...
The part with Magnus was definitely my favorite and I think the most well done section. I started choking up a little in the flashbacks with Gunnar actually speaking.
The handling of Broderick however. Very much ew. Again, I do believe holding onto vengeance and hate is destructive to the person feeling it. But you don’t just 180 from that into “oh we’re all good now”. And that is something that happens a lot in SSO quests. The only quests I can bring to remembrance where that doesn’t happen is Ydris after we zap him with the clock (he tolerates MC and invites them back to the circus, but he doesn’t just brush off the fact we kinda almost killed him) and I believe Anne after she’s a bitch to MC. MC’s forgiveness towards Anne is built towards and earned by Anne’s dialogue and actions. MC doesn’t do anything canonically to earn Ydris’ forgiveness and thus he never explicitly gives it (fanfic is another topic though 🤫).
But Broderick? Up until the end he’s like “YOU are making me suffer! I mean yeah, i shattered your soul. But its YOUR fault!” And to have him berating Gunnar like that while MC and Linda stand there agreeing with him and even Morrigan is pushing that Gunnar is suffering from his own choice to be vengeful instead of just… acknowledging how much it hurt and it sucked and Broderick doesn’t deserve peace, he’s not remorseful. But as the ferrymare/man they have a duty?
So yeah. A lot of victim blaming there. It could have been so much better if Morrigan snapped at Broderick to stfu. Like how we were able to let Morrigan bite Ydris that one year (even if it was technically the “wrong” dialogue option). But for her to be so passive about it and agree with Gunnar’s abuser… I think that’s really what’s putting a lot of people off. Everyone said “oh poor Gunnar” behind his back. But when it came down to it and he was face to face with one of the guys who had harmed him for the last 900 years and blatantly held no remorse, /everyone/ on the scene was still against him. Just like in his life.
Like you said, there was so much potential. But they wanted to wrap up the story quickly in a neat little bow. And unfortunately, finding peace just isn’t quick or easy. Especially after centuries of torment.
I'll add a few words if you don't mind! There is an opinion here that I mostly agree with, but there are some points that I understand differently and want to express.
First of all, I want to celebrate the fact that the story of Galloper is now complete, conditionally speaking. It has its flaws, but now we have a definite ending. I think that's good.
The main thing I want to say is that I don't see forgiveness in Gunnar's actions!
Morrigan literally says: the druid may deserve to suffer, but you don't.
I think what she means here is not forgiveness. She means leaving the terrible hardships behind. What made him who he is is in the past and cannot be undone. Galloper could have kept Broderick at the tower for a long time, enjoying his suffering and his revenge (I think he did spend a long time there). But Morrigan didn't want Gunnar to suffer along with him, sinking into his own sadness and rage. That's all in the past. Now Gunnar is a ferryman, together with the person most dear to him, Morrigan. This is his life now, and there's no point in clinging to what can't be changed.
In short, Gunnar could say (haha, not funny) — you did terrible things to me, and I don't forgive you, but I'm putting it behind me.
But nevertheless, I'm not saying that what they did to him in life is trivial. Again, Gunnar has every right to be angry, to be furious, to want revenge. That's normal. But it's as if Morrigan offered him something else that would bring him peace.
At least that's how I understood this storyline. Maybe this idea was presented a little skewed. Or maybe I just want to convince myself that everything isn't so bad!
By the way, I don't think Morrigan literally made the decision for Gunnar. As she said, she saw the changes in him herself. I think deep down he wanted to end it, and Morrigan pushed him to do so.
In any case, I still want to believe that everything ended more or less well. I don't want to think too much about the fact that Jarl didn't get his punishment at all, and Broderick got off too easily, but I want to think that now Gunnar is no longer tormented by regrets, thoughts of the past, and a burning desire for revenge.
pov: you've lost your way on a haunted trailride and seem to have gone somewhere you've never been before. Everything around you is shrouded in a strange fog. You try to find familiar places, but instead you see this.
I'm waking up from a long hiatus. Fall is coming, and Halloween is just around the corner, which means I'll probably start posting here again soon! Yay!
In the meantime, I've brought some SSO screenshots ~
A more grown-up Lisa ⭐
I imagined what she would look like a few years after SSL/SSO.
Another workout in the old sso\ssl style. love it so much.
And also timelapse! (there is a 25th frame showing a piece of my commission, I inserted it by accident. It turned out funny.)
Nooooo wait! Where did my super precarious bridge go?
I've been playing ALOT of Red Dead Redemption 2 recently, and I finally got the bug to play Star Stable again. What is this abomination? It's a video game! If you keep falling off the bridge, get good scrub!!! Don't take my bridge away from me.
I also want that bridge back!!! It was special and unique for Fort Pinta..... It looked unstable and dangerous…
although I liked shortening the route and jumping down to get to the beach faster
and now they seem to be trying to make something that was already harmless completely safe.
why?
